The Case Manager

Wanda McGee-Igiozee, RN
Aetna Nurse Case Manager
Dallas, Texas

Wanda McGee-Igiozee comes from a family of nurses. She and her three sisters became nurses because it was in their hearts to help others. At one stage in their careers they even operated a home health care agency together, but after four years they each decided to do something different.

Today, Wanda is a senior case manager for Aetna. While the corporate environment is not quite the same as the trenches of an ICU, where her career began, she still enjoys patient interaction. "A large part of my role is to provide education and ensure Aetna members are getting into the right programs," said the mother of 15-month-old Princeton.

She handles a variety of cases, typically neonatal, geriatric or catastrophic related. One family she recently assisted had to deal with a life-altering experience. "I help families find common ground. There can be so much stress on a family dealing with these situations. It's my job to help them to become independent."

Wanda, who cherishes her family relationships, remembers the loss she felt as a young girl when her grandmother died. So when she came in contact with a 78-year-old woman coping with Alzheimer's disease, she developed a loving relationship with her and assisted in finding her a new place to live. "I became like the granddaughter she never had. My heart went out to her. I was 28 years old then, and I didn't have my grandmother. She came close to that for me." Today, Wanda and her son still take time to visit the 86-year-old woman.

Throughout her life, Wanda has always listened to the advice of her mother to strive for something. Her future plans, she said, include going back to school to become a nurse practitioner and to work in a family practice.

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